The Dallas Cowboys' 2023 season was one to remember for many reasons, but also one to forget for other reasons.
There were highs like Dak Prescott leading the NFL in touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb going full Super Saiyan to lead the league in receptions.
Lamb also broke multiple Cowboys' receiving records that had been untouched since the 1990s.
Dallas finally figured out how to keep Tyron Smith healthy, and it turns out the answer was simply not to practice at all.
Tyler Smith turned into a dawg, earning 2nd team All-Pro honors for the first time in his young career.
DaRon Bland got snubbed out of the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award after hauling in an NFL-leading nine interceptions.
He broke an NFL record by returning five of those interceptions for touchdowns.
There were also some lows.
Promising rookie 3rd-round pick LB DeMarvion Overshown was lost for the season before the opener in a preseason game at Seattle.
It would spell doom at that position for the rest of the season when Leighton Vander Esch was also lost in Week 5.
At no point were the Cowboys lower than their putrid performance at home versus Green Bay in the Wildcard playoffs.
It doesn't look like anyone played well, bringing us into my next two-part series.
In this series, I will be highlighting players whose 2023 performance needs to improve to make a positive impact in 2024.
Today, we start on the offensive side of the ball and will move to the defense tomorrow.
Here are three offensive players who the Cowboys need to improve in 2024.
Terence Steele
Let's quickly address the elephant in the room.
RT Terence Steele did not play up to par with what we've seen from him before which earned him a fat, new contract before last season.
Steele gave up way too many pressures and was beaten badly for sacks that Prescott shouldn't have been in a position to take.
Instead of looking like the ascending player who was awarded a 5yr/$86.5 million contract, he looked more like the undrafted rookie free agent of years ago.
Steele was slow off the snap, struggled to get to the second level, and oh those penalties.
Ok maybe the penalties were a team-wide epidemic but Steele's contribution doesn't make it any better.
With his neighbor at guard Zack Martin growing long in the tooth, Steele won't have the luxury much longer of Martin making up for his deficiencies.
Luke Schoonmaker
Can a room have two elephants?
If it could, rookie TE Luke Schoonmaker would be in the opposite corner of Steele.
Cowboys Nation went into an uproar at the announcement of Schoonmaker being the Cowboys' 2nd round selection at pick 58.
Why did we need another tight end with such a high draft pick?
Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot appeared to have their roles locked down at the end of the 2022 season.
In hindsight, it's easy to criticize draft picks, but the worst part is we all predicted that Schoonmaker would not make the impact that a 2nd round player should.
He caught eight passes for 61 yards and two touchdowns in 2023 on 15 total targets.
By comparison, CeeDee Lamb had three games with over 15 targets and another two games with 14.
Schoonmaker made critical mistakes like not getting enough depth on his route on a 4th down try at Philadelphia.
Dallas would lose the game, which may have cost them the number-one seed in the conference.
With uncertainty behind Ferguson, Schoonmaker will need to make a huge leap in 2024 for the offense to remain successful.
Jalen Tolbert
My final offensive player who needs to improve for 2024 is WR Jalen Tolbert.
The Cowboys' wide receiver room could look the same as 2023 or it could only return Lamb and Tolbert for 2024.
There is no guarantee that Brandin Cooks will return, and Michael Gallup looks like a lock for a post-June 1st release.
Tolbert contributed more and more as the season hummed along, eventually taking nearly all of Gallup's snaps.
Mike McCarthy even appeared to design a few plays here and there that fit Tolbert's skill set.
He finished 2023 with 22 receptions on 36 targets for 268 yards and two receiving touchdowns.
There's a real possibility that Tolbert could be the other starting wide receiver opposite Lamb in 2024.
If that's the case, we will need to see the “NFL-ready” version of Tolbert who was a 3rd round pick in 2022.
